1. Field of the Invention PA1 2. Description of the Prior Art
This invention relates generally to the assembly of panels for use in office panel systems and, more particularly, to a tool for connecting flexible hinges to finished ends of the panels.
Panel systems are very popular in modern offices since they allow large areas to be aesthetically and economically subdivided into individual work areas. An example of such a system is shown in FIG. 1 of the drawings. A central spine 10 is formed by a series of individual panels 12 connected end to end. At various locations along the spine 10, other panels 14 are connected at right angles to the panels 12 of the spine 10 to form individual work units 15. As shown on the right-hand side of FIG. 1, additional panels 16 may be connected to the outer ends of the partition panels 14 to form larger office units.
A popular office panel system is made by Steelcase Inc. of Grand Rapids, Mich. In the Steelcase system, the ends of adjacent panels are connected by removable finished ends 18 attached to the panel end rails by means of a jack bolt connection (not shown).
A Steelcase finished end 18 is shown in FIGS. 2-4 of the drawings. The finished end 18 is a substantially rectangular elongated metal piece having opposed edges 19, a front face 20, a rear face 21 and a series of longitudinally spaced pairs of engagement slots 22 configured to engage hooks present on the panel end rail. As shown in FIG. 4 of the drawings, the opposed edges 19 of the finished end 18 include a folded portion 23.
When two panels are connected together in an end-to-end relationship, such as the panels 12 forming the spine 10 shown in FIG. 1, flexible hinge members 24, such as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 of the drawings, are used. The hinge member 24 is made of an elastic material, such as plastic. The hinge member 24 includes two central projections 26 and two side projections 28. Each side projection 28 includes a tip portion 30. The central projections 26 and side projections 28 are carried on a base 32 having an outer surface 33 and a projecting crown portion 34. The central projections 26, side projections 28 and base 32 form two longitudinal channels 36 extending along the length of the hinge member 24.
FIG. 7 shows two hinge members 24 connecting two panels 12 in an end-to-end relationship by connecting the adjacent finished ends 18 of the panels 12. Generally, the hinge members 24 are connected to the finished ends 18 before the finished ends 18 are attached to the panels 12. To attach the hinge members 24 to the finished ends 18, the two finished ends 18 are positioned with their rear surfaces 21 adjacent one another and the hinge members 24 are pushed against the edges 19 of the finished ends 18 until the folded end portions 23 of the finished ends 18 are forced into the longitudinal channels 36 of the hinge members 24 along the entire length of each finished end 18. This is typically done by forcing the hinge members 24 onto the finished ends 18 by hand or by using a mallet to pound the hinge members 24 onto the finished ends 18.
FIG. 8 shows a single hinge member 24 connecting two panels 14 and 16 at a right angle, as shown in FIG. 1. To achieve this configuration, the two finished ends 18 are initially positioned as discussed above but only one hinge member 24 is attached to the edges 19 of the finished ends 18. After the hinge member 24 is in place, the two finished ends 18 may be pivoted to open the flexible hinge member 24 for subsequent connection to the end rails of the panels 14 and 16.
It is not uncommon when connecting the hinge members 24 to the finished ends 18, to have one worker designated to force the hinge members 24 onto the required number of finished ends 18 by hand. Although the hinge members 24 are made of a flexible material, it is very difficult to force the edges 19 with the folded portions 23 into the channels 36 by hand, especially when the hinge members 24 are new. The attachment of the hinge members 24 to the finished ends 18 is thus very time consuming when done by hand. Also, workers with this job frequently complain of soreness and pain in their hands and wrists caused by continually forcing the folded portions 23 of the finished ends into the channels 36. Thus, these workers must take frequent breaks thereby increasing the time required to complete the assembly.
As an alternative to forcing the hinge members 24 and finished ends 18 together by hand, these elements are sometimes connected by aligning a hinge member 24 with the finished ends 18 and then striking the crown portion 34 of the hinge member 24 with a hammer or other heavy object to pound the hinge member 24 onto the edges 19 of the finished ends 18 to force the edges 19 of the finished ends 18 into the channels 36. However, this assembly method is also very time consuming and tiring for the worker. For the installation of a panel system in a large area, it is not uncommon to require the attachment of hundreds of hinge members 24 to finished ends 18. Thus, to date the task of attaching one or two hinge members 24 to the required number of finished ends 18 to construct an office panel system has been a very labor intensive and time consuming operation.
Therefore, it is an object of the invention to provide a portable, easy to operate tool which may be used to quickly and reliably attach one or more hinge members to the finished ends of panels. Particularly Steelcase panels for use in an office panel system.